Blog

Make your Own Boba Bubble Tea Jelly at home with just 4 simple ingredients. Grassfed gelatin, water, honey and juice are mixed together, then refrigerated until firm. Slice into sippable cubes and toss into a cup of chilled tea. Delicious! And it's so easy to customize the flavors to your taste. We used blood orange juice, but any juice or tea will do.

If you love Boba Tea as much as I do, you tend to crave it on the daily. (As I do).

Only problemo? At a cool $5 per cup, a run to the Boba Tea joint down the street can really start to add up.

So we set out to make a homemade, healthier version of our favorite summertime chiller. A tall glass full of boba jelly, topped with honey-sweetened hibiscus tea.

Though it's easy to make your own Boba (just head down to the Asian grocer, purchase boba tapioca pearls, and follow the instructions), I was surprised how hard it was to find instructions to make boba jelly.

Truth be told, as much as I love those tapioca pearls in traditional boba, my natural sweet tooth will pick a glass full of flavored jelly over basic boba any day.

Making your own jelly is surprisingly simple. It's like prepping a batch of "Knox Blox" (did you mom used to make those for you in the 80's? My mom totally did, and I thought it was amazzzing). But in the case of boba jelly, you slice those knox blox into teeny tiny straw-sized cubes, instead of big finger-sized ones.

While picking up the ingredients to make your own jelly, I do recommend swinging by the Asian grocer for a pack of oversized Boba Straws. Or buy them via Amazon.

Once you've got a batch of jelly and bubble tea straws, simply toss that jelly into the bottom of a wide-mouthed mason jar, top with chilled tea and enjoy.

For a family as big as ours, we usually double or triple the batch, then keep the jelly on hand all week. It will keep up to 2 weeks in the fridge, so long as you store it in an airtight container.

Place cold water in a glass bowl, sprinkle gelatin over the water and allow to soften for 30-60 seconds. Whisk in honey and hot tea/juice, whisking until gelatin is dissolved. Pour into a 1 quart reusable glass container (I like spraying mine with coconut oil spray, to make slicing simpler once the jelly is set). Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

With a sharp knife, slice jelly into very small cubes.

To serve, fill the bottom 1/4 of a glass with jelly. Top with chilled tea. If desired, add a splash of coconut or almond milk. Serve immediately. Drink with a boba straw for easiest enjoyment.